One fish, two fish...

Dead fish, err... dead fish.

Not a good week for Looby Loo's fsshh. The remainder--the widowed Mrs Swordtail, two catfish, three guppies, four neon tetra, five zebra--were carefully counted in and back whilst the tank was emptied, cleaned, the gravel removed and washed, and the filters changed.

Poor elegant Mr Swordtail, tail coat or rapier tail gone, silver waistcoat dulled. We were talking of getting another couple of lady swordtails to keep Mr S off Mrs S's back: now we need a new gentleman, too. The tank's a whole lot less lively without his precision swimming.

Ballet

We've done it! Finally, on Friday, in a nice church hall, conveniently just out of town (but almost literally just down the road (at least in a time before villages were bypassed)), my first ballet lesson.

My personal goal for the class was to avoid falling on my nose. Success! Hooter remained unsquished.

I've still got painful calves today.

In the midst of... or, maybe, because of...

There's the tiniest, most perfect little scrap of a baby swordtail flicking like a mote of sunlight round the back of the fish tank. Birth possibly encouraged by yesterday's massive tank clear out; survival (so far...)probably due to the demise of Mr Swordtail, who did rather dog Mrs Swordtail's tail....

It's very cute.

I hope it's still cute in the morning.